Worcester is close to owning old courthouse

WORCESTER — The city is one step closer to taking control of the former Worcester County Courthouse on Main Street and preparing the property for redevelopment.

The City Council Tuesday night authorized City Manager Edward M. Augustus Jr. to accept a deed from the state for the courthouse property, located at 2 Main St., just south of Lincoln Square.

The council also gave final approval to a $4 million loan to finance costs associated with preparing the property for redevelopment, including environmental remediation, demolition of the former Central District Court portion of the complex, and roof and exterior building repairs.

To help offset a good portion of those expenses, the council also authorized the city manager to accept a $3 million grant from the state Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance that will reimburse the city for that work.

As a result, the city's share for that work will be about $1 million.

Michael E. Traynor, the city's acting chief development officer, is involved in nailing down the final pieces to the puzzle.

He said he is negotiating a land disposition agreement and a memorandum of agreement between the city, the Massachusetts Historical Commission and DCAMM.

Mr. Traynor said he is hopeful for a mid-July/early August closing on the courthouse property.

Mr. Augustus told the City Council that if the city ends up selling or leasing the property, it will share any profits on a 50-50 basis with the state.

He added that if the city ends up holding on to the building for a lengthy period of time and has to pay additional expenses to maintain the property, those costs will deducted from the state's share of the property's sale price.

The manager emphasized that 100 percent of the tax benefit realized by getting the courthouse on the tax rolls will stay with the city.

"It's a very good deal," Mr. Augustus said. "The state is being very generous with us by allowing us to control our own fate with this property. We are getting $3 million and a free building."

Mr. Traynor said an environmental survey done by DCAMM in 2012 estimated the environmental abatement costs for the property to be about $1.5 million.

He said further testing, checking for asbestos, PCPs, mold and lead, is now being done to confirm that estimate.

Mr. Augustus said there are no firm plans for the courthouse property, but he said there has been interest in it.

In fact, he said, one developer recently came forward and expressed an interest in keeping the 1950s-built Central District Court part of the complex instead of having it razed. As a result, the manager said the city wants to remain flexible when it comes to the fate of the courthouse annex.

"It will depend on who some of our suitors are," Mr. Augustus said. "We want to have maximum flexibility to see what developers are interest in. If people want to keep the (courthouse annex), then we can do a partial remediation to that building.

"Our first plan was to raze it, but before we go aggressively down that road we'd like to see what developers have in mind," he added.

Because of the historic nature of the old courthouse building, Mr. Traynor said potential developers will definitely have to deal with restrictions when it comes to renovating its exterior and will likely face restrictions for some interior features as well.

The city Historical Commission and Preservation Worcester will also have input in the formulation of the redevelopment strategy for the former Worcester County Courthouse on Main Street.

Mr. Augustus said the city would like to work with a firm that specializes in the re-use of public buildings to help market the courthouse property and the adjacent Worcester Memorial Auditorium.